Empowering students

I want to empower my students in my current journalism class but I am faced with different conditions than I have been accustomed to as a result of the increasing level of technologies. I want to move from being too teacher directed to student directed. Not only is the technology hampering this devolvement of power, but many of my students seem to have less get up and go than my previous journalism classes.

Have they been socialised by our curriculum? Is it easier to sit and listen to a teacher talking, or be part of a discussion group than have to commit to completing something for the good of the whole team? Are they mature enough? Development wise they should be well and truly moving from the ego development stage of socialised mind to self-authoring mind. What does it mean to help this transition?

One girl said to me yesterday that this was her hardest class (even though her other classes are pre-tertiaries). Why? Because she is not required in her other classes to produce products in class.

I month ago I introduced students to the DISC model of different management styles - D for Directive and leading, I - for influencing and ideas, S - for stabilising and ensuring needs of the team are being met, C - for conscientious and getting the work done as directed. I suggested that each of us had a profile where we might be stronger in some areas than others.

Only two students said that they considered themselves as Directive and indeed they were natural leaders who I had used to run sessions and take the whiteboard pen. One student considered herself Influential - she came up with lots of ideas but unfortunately never stayed still enough to see them through. About four students identified themselves with Conscientious. There were no people who considered themselves as team builders. So where were the rest? Spread across? No, they suggested we should have fifth category - B for bludgers!


Yes I have my work cut out for me now, because I believe that one of my teaching roles should be that of assisting student transformation as well as their flourishing. How can I help them mature from socialised mind to self authoring mind to the next level - plural mind?

Here are some comments by my 1998 journalism students who I asked to reflect at the end of the year how their notion of empowerment had changed as a result of the course...

I think for me, at the start of the year, that empowerment basically meant honouring the right to free speech and being able to follow your own truths while everybody realises that you have a right to do so. Now, I have also realised that by empowering yourself you are given the power to influence others through your own example. I think that influencing others is a power I have really developed over the last 18 months, because now more than ever I am willing to accept my own personality (good and bad) and become more self-aware. I would not have been able to embrace my own individuality without the freedom to do as I like – the freedom you have given us in this class.

At first I thought that empowerment was a feeling of nirvana, euphoria, absolute bliss. That being empowered meant being happy with one’s self. I now think that empowerment is the ability to make others feel this way.

For me, being confident in who I am and what I live for is followed by a sense of direction and empowerment. There are different sources of empowerment for everyone. Bad stuff is going to happen to us and it is how we deal with it and overcome it that will determine to what extent it affects us. The more empowered you are the more likely you will pick yourself up and continually live in hope for a better day.

During the year my confidence and self-esteem has been on the increase. Now I feel I could just about do anything if I put my mind to it! Especially with journalism. I came into the class thinking “Am I doing the right thing?”, and now it is like “What the hell! I will give anything a go!”. So empowerment means a lot more to me now.

I think empowerment has changed for me. At the beginning of the year I wrote a poem about empowerment and since then I have become more like the person I wanted to be. Although this has been the case, it is not through achieving my goals,rather it is in learning about myself … that I am a stronger person in controlling myself than I am in controlling others.

I think empowerment is the urge to enable yourself to grow, to push yourself to learn, letting yourself learn more, wanting to learn.

These are students who transformed and flourished in the development stages - each starting in a different place, going on their unique journeys. (I will bring some more of their comments in later to compare with my current students). How can this remind me of what I need to be doing?